Co‐Production Experiences in Practice From Funding to Implementation: Co‐Production Experiences of Academics and Consumers in Real‐World Practice.
Background: Consumer and community involvement in health research is increasingly recognised as essential for ensuring relevance and responsiveness to diverse population needs. The Australian Women's Health Research, Translation and Impact Network (WHRTN) aims to improve women's health and build cap...
| Published in: | Health Expectations Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 1 - 16 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
Apr2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=193365323&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 193365323 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 13696513 EVY jtl: Health Expectations issn: 13696513 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 29 iid: 2 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell place: Malden, Massachusetts artinfo: ui: 193365323 193365323 193365323 10.1111/hex.70588 193365323 ppf: 1 ppct: 15 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: C – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Co‐Production Experiences in Practice From Funding to Implementation: Co‐Production Experiences of Academics and Consumers in Real‐World Practice. aug: au: Olenski, Samantha Kozica Chander, Anusha Ramani Chambers, Georgina Arnott, Leslie Loxton, Deborah Peate, Michelle Teede, Helena affil: Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, Monash University and Monash Health, Clayton VIC,, Australia sug: subj: Health Care Delivery Consumers Academia Program Implementation Health Services Research Human Semi-Structured Interview Qualitative Studies Thematic Analysis Collaboration Women's Health Community Service Implementation Science Funding Source ab: Background: Consumer and community involvement in health research is increasingly recognised as essential for ensuring relevance and responsiveness to diverse population needs. The Australian Women's Health Research, Translation and Impact Network (WHRTN) aims to improve women's health and build capability in women academics. WHRTN awarded targeted co‐production grants to support collaborations between academics and consumer teams across women‐centred research priority areas. This study explores the application of co‐production processes, including the experiences of academic and consumer leads in planning and implementing projects in real‐world research. Methods: Qualitative semi‐structured interviews were conducted with academic and consumer leads. Template analysis was used to thematically and deductively code de‐identified transcripts, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the National Institute for Health and Care Research co‐production principles. Results: Twenty interviews revealed that co‐production was operationalised in diverse ways to meet contextual needs and deliver meaningful outcomes. Consumer and community involvement were consistently prioritised, with principles such as power sharing, equality, reciprocity, and relationship‐building evident. Project progress and outcomes were influenced by the developmental stage of the research team, project maturity, and strength of existing partnerships. Key enablers included strong leadership, prior co‐production experience, mutual respect, open communication, established networks, and clear project goals. System and organisational challenges included the slow pace of co‐production, resource demands, and working in sensitive areas such as Indigenous health and sexual violence. Conclusion: The value of involving consumers in project planning and implementation to optimise impacts is clear and is supported by strong leadership, a culture of mutual respect and a clearly defined project scope. However, system and organisational barriers to meaningful co‐production persist. Recommendations to enhance co‐production include multi‐stage funding processes, policy and organisational changes, expanded opportunities for co‐production training, and allocation of additional project funded time. Transparent sharing of co‐production processes and learnings is needed to embed co‐production into routine research practice. Patient or Public Contribution: Each funded project was jointly led by academics and consumers. Consumers contributed to all stages of project design and implementation, ensuring their perspectives informed decision‐making. An experienced consumer partnership lead contributed to data interpretation and preparation of this manuscript and is a listed author of this work. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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